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Author
Topic: chronicle of Atripla (A-trip-to-LA) (Read 6898 times)

Hi all,I was very nervous starting the medication. I've looked all thru the posts to see what the side-effects may be, not too many folks talked their personal experience, but i figured i would chronicle my first few days some folks may get something out of it.

I took the first tablet at 9pm tonight and its now midnight, so far havent had any side-effects except maybe a warm sensation around my ears. its bedtime soon so will see how the night goes and will post something in the morning.

hi all,i got up this morning and didnt feel anything really, I didnt have any 'out of the oridinary' dreams, dont feel groggy or nothing. That was just the first pill, I understand it takes a few to get into your system, but hopefully tonight will go just as well ...

I have been on Atripla (which has sustiva) and I call it my "sleepy pill" . My boyfriend (who lives out os town) knows when I have taken or not the pill by the way I talk. He says I sound like an ADD person with a bad case of OCD. And just to endorse that whatbhevsays is tru, I started typing this reply at 1 am and is already 2:45 am...I wish I could blame my IPAD...but is it for sure the pill...But I LOVE how I sleep with it, by the way it is now 3:23am...good nite

Hi Danny,i think i felt that a little last night, i took my 3rd pill and was very dizzy, groggy after a couple hours. I blame it on the fact that i had a huge steak dinner about and hour 1/2 before i took it, there is no way i had an empty stomach at that point...lol..but i just went to bed and it was alright.....today little nauseous, but i still am blaming on all the food i ate last night...lol

How is it going? I remember the first might I took it I had watch a Star Wars movie and woke up at 3am with my room full of Storm Troopers (wishful thinking). Then I realized that I had a big meal that night and had not waited for the 2 hours that they suggest.

Imalso had a face rash, which went away in about a weeks time and never came back. I took some Benadryl (which made me druggier) I just did not want to switch from Atripla.

I am also the only member of my family that has very little tolerance to alcohol, so to this day I have vivid dreams. I love the fact that the Atripla treatment is pretty flexible, meaning that it can be taken "around" the same time everyday, one hour more or less will not have great consequences. I do stay away from taking it close to heavy meals. It' would be fine if you watch Star Wars or Brokeback Mountain, but if you watch something like "The Exorcist" you can expect Linda Blair to be in your bed at 3am, and that would not be a pretty night!

hi danny,its going ok so far...im on day 6 havent had any big issues yet, except a little grogginess and skin feels hot at times after i take it....so still looking out for the rash, but hoping i'm one of the lucky ones that dont get it...who know.

reading thru your numbers it looks as though you had a rough go at it at first...i'm very happy to see you are cancer free. to have all that happen at one time i say kudos to you! you are the man.

Good to hear your doing okay with the meds! I finally was able to sleep through the night last night!! That was great. Like you except for some morning grogginess most of the side effects are starting to wane. I also feel like my skin gets hot though after I take it. I am glad to hear that you also experience the same thing :-) Here is to you and me not getting a rash, haha

hi all,So i've been doing very well on the medication, tonight will be day 12, I believe, and now when i take it I dont even know i've taken it for the most part. After about 4 days when I would get up to go to work i would be a little groggy, so doctor advised me to take it an hour early and that seemed to have done the trick. So far so good, i hope that it keeps doing well. Still got my fingers crossed NO RASH yet!

It's like that mike. The most common side effects are the grogginess I been like 12 weeks on atripla and it's no every morning but sometimes I'm groggy. Thanks god I can say I doing great w this meds. I hope you get better day by day good look Maelrod

awesome Mikeb39, I think you can let go of your fingers...If it didn't happen by now, its very posible that it won't happen at all...Mine started by day 4 and they lasted more or less a week taking benadryl. I like your Doctor, mine reccomended the same thing and ready. It really calls for the pill to be in your system about an 7 -8 hour period, wether you are asleep or not. Also I am amazed that you dont have the vivid dream, my Doc said that it goes away for most people but its nothing to be worried about, I like gettingbsleepy with it, it does help me sleep..

I love the treatment, Its pretty simple, and if you are on or two hours late, its not a major issue, although it should be taken at the same time everyday.

Everytime you open any of the postings on this Forum, your own box will appear as the first item on the top left of the screen, then it reads Hey, Mikeb39 and at the very top of that box you click on the underline USER...you click on "User" and it will open a new editing box for you, there you can post your stats...Hey, happy holidays...keep on posting!

hi bug!i'm doing quite well, no side effects really except when i eat close to when i take it, i get light headed so i make sure i take on empty stomach and have no issues. I can't believe its almost been a month taking it, i had a dr appt monday and dr says if i havent had any rashes etc at this point i more than likely will not. he wants me to come back in feb for viral load/CD4 so i will know that its working alright.

hi bug!i'm doing quite well, no side effects really except when i eat close to when i take it, i get light headed so i make sure i take on empty stomach and have no issues. I can't believe its almost been a month taking it, =ttyl

I am glad to hear you are doing well and have experienced few if any side effects. I think at this point it is probably safe to say your in the clear.

I switched to it in late 2006 not because I had to but because the 'combo pill' would made things easier in termsof scheduling as Danny pointed you don't have to be quit as concerned with taking it at exactly the same time every day.

With the exception of some relatively minor side effects initially (grogginess/light headed feeling) I have tolerated it extremely well and my viral load has remained undetectable.

My adjustment to Atripla was rough but it's important to note that I was sicker then hell when I started it. CD4 was 8 and VL was 500,000. I had trouble sleeping, nausea, hot one minute, cold the next. I didn't sleep well for about three weeks. Admittedly, some of this was likely mental. As I am sure many of you can relate, just being diagnosed with AIDS can send you brain into a tail-spin. I suspected parasites were causing diarrhea and the beat goes on.

I was at the clinic three times during this period over concerns with having a low grade fever, thinking I could see parasites and so on. My doc responded by telling me, calmly, that he doubted I had parasites but to be sure, put me on a medication to "kill them" and settled me down (I had not been to the psych yet.)

The best advice I read on here is from someone who said "do not self diagnose." AMEN! I totally agree. When I stopped trying to doctor myself with WEB MD and worse case scenario's, my condition improved. Here's the best advice I can offer:

Let your doctor do the doctoring.

Don't be overly concerned but reasonably concerned about health changes and ASK QUESTIONS.

If you have trouble sleeping TELL YOUR DOCTOR and get on a sleeping pill. Insomnia makes this condition much worse.

Above all guys and gals SEE A PSYCHIATRIST! I cannot stress this enough. Regardless of how you "think" you are handling all of this, your mental state is just as important as your counts!

Fear is the worst enemy. Yes, this is one nasty disease but as the doctor told me, it's not the same disease it was 30 years ago or even 10 years ago.

Hang in there!

Logged

Diagnosed in May of 2010 with teh AIDS.

PCP Pneumonia . CD4 8 . VL 500,000

TRIUMEQ - VALTREX - FLUOXETINE - FENOFIBRATE - PRAVASTATIN - CIALIS

Numbers consistent since 12/2010 - VL has remained undetectable and CD4 is anywhere from 275-325